Lessons from Past Primaries

[H2O Man]

4. This is just my opinion:

but Mondale was best able to hold the party together in 1984, and in that (and only that) sense could he be considered a "centrist." From his position, he was able to keep most every other wing or faction together.

I'm far to the left of Mondale today; and I was way, way more militant in my thinking and behavior in '84. But I've always had respect for men like Mondale and Humphrey. I would have far preferred Mondale as President, rather than Jimmy Carter. (Note: Carter is my favorite ex-president. But I'm thinking of even around the time Obama was sworn in, when Carter, Clinton, and Bush 1 and 2 were at the White House for a photo session. Carter is always physically distant from the other four men. I appreciate both his, and their, reasoning that created that distance.) Likewise, I liked Gore far more than Clinton. But I'm rambling on here, as old men often tend to do .....

Mondale wasn't perfect, but he was an honest man with principles.